Click fraud is now a major part of
the online criminal underworld.
symantecSymantec, along with Microsoft have just announced the joint takedown of the command and control servers used by a threat called Trojan.Bamital. This malware was used to carry out extensive click fraud activities that netted the criminals behind it a conservative estimate of £700,000 annually.
Click fraud is a major component of the online criminal underworld. It works by redirecting end users to ads and other content they didn’t intend to visit. The Trojan also generated non-human initiated traffic on ads and websites with the sole purpose of getting paid by ad-networks. Another scam which Bamital was responsible for was redirecting infected users to websites peddling malware under the guise of legitimate software. It seems that both Symantec and Microsoft are upping the ante at last and that they are hoping the Bamital takedown sends a clear message that click fraud operations are being taken seriously and can be stopped.
More information can be found on the Norton by Symantec blog post by Marian Merritt, Norton Internet Safety Advisor, here: http://community.norton.com/t5/Ask-Marian/Symantec-Announces-Bamital-Botnet-Take-Down/ba-p/906191
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